Drunken Owls and Other Delights

We're back!  A and I took a small weekend vacation up in Mendocino and Fort Bragg just for a bit of relaxation.   It's a long drive, but it's worth it and quite fun.  It just so happens that we were up there the same exact weekend as last year, as once again we ran into Fort Bragg's classic cars show. We checked that out, and also visited the botanical gardens up there.  Thankfully the weather stayed in the upper 60s and low 70s this time out! 

Somehow in between all that driving and mini-vacationing, I managed to update today's Bridgetown blog, but more importantly I managed to do a good read-through of about half of In My Blue World.  (I'd saved most of it to doc files, and I signed onto 750 to read more of it.)  I'm glad to say that it's solid for the most part, and that most of what needs fixing can be done quickly and easily.  A few characters that need straightening out, a few weak points that need strengthening, a few plot points that need tightening.  All is on schedule so far, so if I can get this book done by the end of the month, that will give me the entirety of July to work on the revision and post-production work.

I didn't get to read what I have of the Apartment Complex story yet, but I think it's too early for that, given that I only restarted it a short time ago.  I'm going to do the same here, just keep plugging away at it until I'm nearly done and then give it a good once-over.

*Looks at calendar*  Huh.  Unless I forgot to add something, I don't have outside events until next Thursday when I have to go in to Concord for work.  Yay!  [Well, I was supposed to go in for some training thing as well, but they keep cancelling and rescheduling it.  So no idea when I'm supposed to go in for that at this time.]  No big plans this week other than grocery shopping today because our cupboards are embarrassingly bare.


Hope everyone has a good week! :)

4. Being trapped in a confined environment can turn an ordinary experience into a powder keg. Write about a thing that happened to you while you were using transportation; anything from your first school bus ride, to a train or plane, to being in the backseat of the car on a family road trip.

One of the things I DO NOT MISS being out here in California is driving in the snow. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy certain aspects of winter...a good night on one of those long red plastic sleds, a silly snowball fight, the eerie muted ambient sound during a snowfall, even coming in and having a tasty hot chocolate after a long morning shoveling outside. But I think it was around 2000 or 2001 when driving on snowy roads started making me nervous and twitchy. It wasn't so much that I couldn't drive in snow--thanks to my ridiculously early hours at Yankee Candle, I knew how to navigate roads that hadn't been plowed yet. It was more that I started getting more nervous the others around me who might not be as proficient at it. I didn't want to slide into them, and I certainly didn't want them sliding into me, either.

I can think of two instances where I found myself attempting to get somewhere on snowy roads that shook my nerves. The first one was when I was driving home from HMV during a particularly snowy night. Most of the roads were passable, if not exactly clear at that time, and I was lucky enough not to get stuck or start sliding when I had to make it up an unsanded and partially plowed hill. I'd made it all the way past the Leominster/Fitchburg stretch of Route 2, only to get stuck in an absurdly long line of cars attempting to make it up a slow, curving hill. Many were spinning their tires and doing their damnedest and not getting too far. As luck would have it, I was right near the start of the outer climbing lane, usually reserved for lumbering trucks. To my surprise, no one was in that lane, all the way up the hill. Probably bending a few traffic laws in the process, I said to hell with it, zipped into that lane...and proceeded to climb all the way up that hill at my own speed, with absolutely no problem at all! All told, it took me two hours to get home (it usually took me one on a clear day), but that one moment made it worth it.

The second instance was on one of those stupidly early days at Yankee during fourth quarter, when I had to be there by 4AM--which meant I had to leave my house by 2:30 the latest, so I'd give myself enough time to get there (and time to spare and hang out with my friends). Like the HMV ride, there were a lot of unsanded and somewhat plowed roads, but for the most part I managed it quite well. It wasn't until I was on one of the back roads heading through Montague where it was a long straightaway near the airport, that I had a problem, in the size of an adult male deer. So picture this--I'm driving down a sparsely lit road that's relatively clear but wet with a few snowy patches, and I have one hand on the wheel because I'm about to take a sip of my still-full coffee...when this BIG HONKIN' DEER comes out of nowhere and runs in front of me. I screamed out an "ooooh shiiiiiiIII---", wrenched the wheel to the left and went into the oncoming lane, and managed to speed by the deer without hitting it. As I regained my senses and went back into my own lane...I realized I hadn't spilled one drop of coffee. Suffice it to say, I kept a vigilant eye out on that stretch for the rest of the winter, just to make sure THAT didn't happen again. ;)

I've been bad...I haven't done a lick of writing today. Been sidetracked by the Harry Potter films on ABC Family all afternoon.

But that's not all! We did SO. MUCH. SHOPPING. today...mostly all in one place, too. We found a shopping center down in Daly City that's pretty much a strip mall on steroids...there's an insane amount of storefronts all in this one rather smallish block and has a parking lot from hell to boot. We only went to three stores, though--World Market (for Christmassy stuff for the apartment, some stocking stuffers, and OMG THEY SELL FLUFF THERE. YAY!!!!), Trader Joe's (for all sorts of foodstuffs and wine), and the ginormous Safeway around the corner (for even more foodstuffs). More stuff bought than we should have, but at least we're well-stocked now.

I also love the fact that the drive to and from that shopping center is along the Great Highway. Very nice coastal drive. :)

By the time we got back it was lunchtime, so off to a new stop: Video Cafe on Geary. I can easily say I don't think I've ever had a very filling brunch (the "Three Amigos" omelette) at a 24-hour diner that also serves Thai food...and rents dvds. And has standees and posters from 80s and 90s movies as their decor. And we were served by this amusing older Chinese lady that had a very 80s getup. Sure, it's a dive, and the food is obviously in the tasty-yet-bad-for-you category, but by sheer dint of its oddness it was full of WIN nonetheless. :)

A short stop at the WalGreens up the way, the CoffeeBank (our local Wells Fargo/Starbucks--yes, in the same place) for holiday coffees, and some last minute produce pickup at the El Grande around the corner from us, and we were back home.

So yes, lots of shopping and walking today!

Depending on how the weather is tomorrow--rumor is that it may rain--we may either do something...or we may end up hanging out inside, watching football and staying dry. :)

Whew! It's been a busy few days here in lovely Montreal, and tomorrow we wrap everything up and head back south to New England (note to self: never thought I'd utter that phrase...) with some newly purchased books and some Canadian goodies. Once again Canada has backed me up when I say that it's a wonderfully lovely country to visit, the few times I've been there. :)

We just got back from the Hugos, which were quite fun (for those curious, Neil Gaiman won Best Novel for The Graveyard Book), and actually a little surprising when at least three winners who had been continually nominated and/or continually won, decided to withdraw their names from any future nominations for that award (or at least hinted to the fans that they should stop nominating the same people all the time). Still...lots of fun!

I just have a few more panels I'd like to go to tomorrow, but will probably be done by 11am, so I'll be able to come back and check out of the hotel and get all our stuff into the car. We did want to do a bit of driving around, but unfortunately neither of us want to be on the road too late, and it's a long five hour drive back.

All in all, I had a fun time, but I think we may start going to closer cons from here on in...part of it is to save money, and part of it is that we won't be able to afford Australia next year (and nobody's really excited about the possibility of Reno the year after that). Added to the fact that though I went to a lot of interesting panels that were newer from years past, it still felt a bit samey and repetitive. We'll see where we go from there...

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On the plus side, I'm proud to say I think I may have plotted out the rest of the Eden Cycle during these past few days! And by this I don't mean figuring out the ending to Book 3--I mean the entire cycle. As in more than three books. Yes, there's more. I've always wanted the EC to be a big sprawling project, ever since about 1995, about the same time I'd started True Faith. I'll just keep all of you waiting on this one, as I don't want to jinx it just yet, but I may go into it in a bit more detail over at jonchaisson once I return to New England or back home to SF. Maybe by then I'll even have more of an idea of how to finish Book 3, which made me stop it in the first place. :)

Also on the writing end...got a lot of really good info about ebooks and small presses, so I have that in the back of my mind as well. If anything, this Worldcon did make me rethink a lot about where I'm going and where I should be going with my writing, which is definitely a good thing. :) Added to the fact that sitting in on a few YA panels also made me rethink of how I'm going to write DaF (or whatever I should really title it at this point!). So yes, joncwriter was Writey McWriterpants this weekend! :D


More soon when I return!

Glad to hear you all got home in one piece. I've done that route more times than I care to remember, so I feel your pain.

Now go climb under those blankets, fire up the hot chocolate topped with marshmallows (or Fluff if you're so inclined) and warm up!!!


Oh, and if it's any consolation, we have idiot drivers out here too. Many of them unclear on the concept that driving fast during peak hours and/or on wet pavement is not the best of ideas. *headdesk*